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National Auto Racing Memorabilia Show Indianapolis 2012

Editor — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:43:36 +0000

The 34th annual National Auto Racing Memorabilia Show returns to Indianapolis on May 24, 25 and 26 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the Our Land Pavilion.
This long-standing fixture of the Indy 500 weekend attracts collectors, fans and dealers from around the world. It’s the absolute best venue to not only purchase that unique Indy 500 souvenir, but the most opportune place to sell your racing collectibles items.
In these trying economic times, two groups of racing collectors have emerged: those that are unaffected by the economy, and those that are giving a considerable amount of thought to making the decision to sell some of their collectibles. You’d be very hard-pressed to find a better opportunity than at this event to buy, or to unload some of your Indy 500 items. Attendees can obtain a free appraisal on up to three (3) of their items on Saturday.
The Show has a proven and certified annual attendance. There is convenient parking in paved lots. The Show aisles are wide and handicapped accessible. Concessions are in the hall. Rain, or shine, there is a crowd. The Indiana State Fairgrounds is one of the State’s great venues- the NFL hosted six events here this past February at Super Bowl XLVI.

Saturday is Family Day and all daily admission prices are detailed on the Show’s website. The 58th running of the Hoosier Hundred takes place at the Fairgrounds Friday evening beginning at 8:00.Visit the website at: www.NARMShow.com.

Dates: 24, 25 and 26 May 2012
Times: Thursday from 4:00-8:00; Friday from 2:00-8:00 and Saturday from 9:30-5:00
Venue: Indiana State Fairgrounds in the Our Land Pavilion
State: Indianapolis
Country: United States

Las Vegas to Host NASCAR 2012 Champions Week

Editor — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:02:10 +0000

In 2008 when NASCAR Champions Week left New York – its host city for twenty-five years – in favor of Las Vegas there were some who voiced their concern that the move was less than wise, with quips about rebounds and quickie divorces being made. However, after three years in Las Vegas, NASCAR officials are more than satisfied with the results and have made it known that NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series Awards and Champions Week will be held in Las Vegas for at least three more years – a happy union between the hot-spot tourist playground and the country’s most popular sport.

NASCAR’s chief marketing officer Steve Phelps noted in an interview that the first three years in Las Vegas were very successful, and that the city is a great backdrop for the sport. The NASCAR Champions week is an all-out celebration of the end of the season, with fans having the opportunity to interact with their on-track heroes in a number of events, including the popular ‘Victory Lap’ and ‘After the Lap’ events. Building on previous success, organizers are constantly looking for more ways to engage the fans that support this fast-paced, adrenaline pumping sport, so it is very likely that there will be even more to enjoy by the time the event rolls around in late-November. While the full schedule has not been made available yet, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards will take place on November 30 at Wynn Las Vegas.

Sports marketing director for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) Julian Dugas emphasized the amount of work that was put into ensuring NASCAR would continue to host the event in Las Vegas. Although Las Vegas is a popular event for all manner of conferences, with some attracting up to 30,000 attendees, Dugas noted that co-branding with NASCAR opens up untapped markets in the Southeast for the city. He concluded that the partnership was a win-win situation.

NASCAR’s three national series – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series; the NASCAR Nationwide Series; and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – are broadcast in up to twenty languages in over 150 countries. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, NASCAR has offices in eight cities in North America, and sanctions over 1,200 races at tracks in thirty states, Canada and Mexico.

Vettel Victorious at Bahrain Grand Prix

Editor — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:30:46 +0000

Starting in pole position, and demonstrating the skill and determination that have made him a world champion, Sebastian Vettel took the checkered flag at the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday – his first win of the year. While political unrest in the streets of Manama – twenty miles or so from the track – attempted to shut down the event, Formula One competitors put their energies into the task at hand, doing what they do best and giving the fans what they came to see – plenty of competitive on-track action.

Vettel put in a flawless performance from start to finish, making the Bahrain Grand Prix his 22nd career victory and putting him at the top of the drivers’ standings. In a post-race interview Vettel noted that he was lucky in having a good start allowing him to open up a gap in the front, while acknowledging that Kimi Raikkonen had challenged him during the race. Raikkonen revealed that he had only one possible chance to pass Vettel, but was just not able to pull it off, stating nonetheless that it had been a good race for them both.

James Grosjean took third place, noting that he was very happy to have achieved his first podium finish in Formula 1 racing. Mark Webber finished in fourth place, with Nico Rosberg taking fifth place, Paul Di Resta in sixth, Fernando Alonso in seventh and Lewis Hamilton in eighth.

While the political tensions in Bahrain are multi-faceted, the protests surrounding the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix focus primarily on the fact that Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa owns the rights to the Grand Prix and was therefore the event’s host. Protesters objected to this connection for a number of reasons, particularly relating to the crushing of the Arab Spring movement by the ruling family last year. In 2004, Bahrain was the first Middle Eastern country to host a Formula 1 Grand prix, with Abu Dhabi hosting an event on the 2009 calendar at Yas Marina circuit. While the unrest and protests made world headlines, they appear to have had little effect on how auto racing fans view the prestige of the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Formula One European Grand Prix 2012

Editor — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:07:16 +0000

The 2012 Formula 1 Grand PRix of Europe will take place on Sunday, 24 June 2012. Preceding this on Friday, 22 June, will be two practice sessions, and on Saturday, 23 June, is the third practice session and qualifying. This thrilling race covers a distance of 308.883 km in 57 laps. Timo Glock holds the lap record of 1:38.683, which he set in 2009.

Dates: 24 June 2012
Time: 14:00
Venue: Valencia Street Circuit
Country: Spain

Formula One Canadian Grand Prix 2012

Editor — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:53:03 +0000

The Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada covers a total distance of 305.270 km, made up of 70 laps of 4.361 km. Rubens Barrichello set the lap record of 1:13.622 in 2004. Practice Sessions 1 and 2 will be held on Friday, 8 June. This is followed by Practice Session 3 and Qualifying on Saturday 9 June; with the race taking place on Sunday 10 June.

Dates: 10 June 2012
Time: 14:00
Venue: Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
City: Montreal
State: Quebec
Country: Canada

Formula One Monaco Grand Prix 2012

Editor — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:47:07 +0000

The Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2012 will kick off on Thursday 24 May with two practice sessions. This is followed by Practice Session 3 and Qualifying on Saturday 26 May. The race will be held on 27 May 2012. The Monaco Grand Prix consists of 78 laps of 3.340 km each, totalling a distance of 260.520 km. The lap record was set in 2004 by Michael Schumacher at 1:14.439.

Dates: 27 May 2012
Time: 14:00
Venue: Circuit de Monaco
Country: Monaco

NASCAR and NASA Challenges

Editor — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:30:27 +0000

A group of math and science students recently gathered at Charlotte Motor Speedway to hear a panel of experts, including an astronaut, explain a number of similarities between auto racing and space travel. Both astronauts and NASCAR or Formula 1 drivers rely on a team of aerodynamic scientists to maximize their speed while complying with safety measures. Both are subject to G-forces and extreme heat, and both are familiar with, and reliant upon, materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar – an incredibly strong composite para-aramid synthetic fiber used in various applications.

While astronauts travel around the earth at approximately 17,500 miles per hour, seeing an entire day and night pass by in around 45 minutes, following the initial launch astronauts are no longer under tremendous physical stress. Traveling at high-speed, racing drivers have corners, gradients and camber to deal with, all of which can put tremendous strain on the human body – and while this G-force effect is not constant and not as strong as an astronaut experiences during a launch, it is repeated many times during a three or four hour race. The effort of intense concentration also takes its toll on a driver, requiring physical and mental fitness.

Site manager of Windshear Inc. and panel member at the Charlotte event, Jeff Bordner, noted that the principle of aerodynamics for automobiles was a spin-off of the aerodynamics and technology developed for aerospace. Windshear runs a 180 mph rolling-road wind tunnel used for testing vehicles, with NASCAR providing up to 65 percent of the company’s business. NASA and NASCAR have long been connected, going back to the time when General Electric engineers established facilities along Volusia Avenue in Daytona Beach, Florida – a street which is now known as International Speedway Boulevard – where it assembled rocket parts to be used at Cape Canaveral. Early astronauts, such as Gus Grissom and Pete Conrad, were reportedly big auto racing fans, and this fascination with speed among astronauts has continued over the years. Captain of the Apollo 13 mission, Jim Lovell, has served as a NASCAR grand marshal, and astronaut Dominic Antonelli lists NASCAR as one of his interests in his NASA biography page. In 2008 the green flag for the Daytona 500 50th anniversary, flew on the shuttle Atlantis prior to the historic event.

Malaysian F1 Grand Prix Victory to Alonso

Editor — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:06:53 +0000

Battling inclement weather, yesterday’s Malaysian F1 Grand Prix provided plenty of auto racing action, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso taking the checkered flag, followed by Sauber’s Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, with Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen taking fourth and fifth place. With his latest victory, Alonso has moved into fifth place on the career victories list – one place ahead of legendary three-time world champion Jackie Stewart. In a post-race interview, Alonso congratulated the team for doing a great job, and noted that in light of their performance in Australia, and in the qualifying rounds in Malaysia, he considered the win to be a big surprise.

While the performance by seasoned drivers Alonso, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Webber was impressive, the second-place win by 22-year-old Sergio Perez was considered to be spectacular, with his enthusiasm dampened only slightly by the thought that he could have grabbed first place. Perez has been reported as saying that a win had been possible as he caught up to Alonso, but he touched the curb and went onto the wet side of the track causing him to lose time. Perez went on to say that although they would have liked to have gathered more points this weekend, he was nevertheless on the podium for the second race in a row and so had no reason to complain.

The Malaysian F1 Grand Prix was interrupted by a tropical downpour just six laps into the race. Light rain fell in the closing laps, with the race coming to an end at 06h48 local time. Following the restart, drivers changed from full wet to intermediate tires with pit teams working frantically to get the drivers back on the track. Alonzo took the lead, building his advantage to 7.7 seconds. Perez was just 1.3 seconds behind Alonso when both went into the pits to change to dry-weather tires. Excitement mounted as Perez was just a half a second behind Alonzo with only seven laps to go. Just as it appeared the young Mexican driver may take the lead, Perez made contact with a slippery curb allowing Alonso the opportunity to take the checkered flag, with Perez following 2.2 seconds behind him to clinch second place.

Tony Stewart Claims First Victory at Las Vegas

Editor — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:09:31 +0000

The on-track action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday is what keeps auto racing enthusiasts coming back for more. Tony Stewart put on a superb demonstration of driving skill and determination, leading to his decisive victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Kobalt Tools 400. As his first win on this particular track and the first Chevrolet victory for 2012, the three-time defending champion Stewart also clocked up his 45th career win from his seventh position start. The victory, which was Stewart’s first with his new crew chief Steve Addington, puts him seventh in the standings.

Jimmie Johnson took second place, fighting his way to the front from the back of the field in a backup Chevrolet after a mishap with his car in practice the day before the race. Stewart kept his position at the head of the field for the last 30 laps of the race, while Johnson was hot on his heels for the last 17 of those laps, but just could not get past. Chevrolet was strongly represented at the event, with other top-ten finishes for the iconic manufacturer including Ryan Newman in fourth position, Paul Menard in seventh, and Jamie McMurray in eighth place, while Dale Earnhardt Jr.finished the race at number 10.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Kobalt Tools 400 victory will no doubt help to ease the pain of last week’s debacle at Phoenix where he turned his car off to save on fuel and failed to get it to re-fire, resulting in a longer pit stop and his finish in 22nd place. It is thought that the problem may be linked to the new electronic fuel injection system introduced by NASCAR. In a post-race interview, Stewart remarked that he was finally glad to win a race at Las Vegas. This may have been an especially sweet victory for Stewart in light of the fact that he missed a good shot at victory last year by incurring a penalty by leaving his pit stop with an air hose still attached to his car.

The current top ten NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings are: Greg Biffle (125 points); Kevin Harvick (115 points); Denny Hamlin (113 points); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (107 points); Matt Kenseth (102 points); Carl Edwards (102 points); Tony Stewart (100 points); Martin Truex Jr. (98 points; and Mark Martin (97 points).

History of the NASCAR Pit Stop

Philip Reed — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:06:40 +0000

What can you do with an automotive degree in NASCAR? The answer is simple: work with a racing team and aim to become a member of the pit stop team. The NASCAR Nation explains that only six crew members have the opportunity to work on pit stops during a Sprint Cup series race. A seventh crew member remains on stand-by; if he is allowed to join the crew during a stop, he has the job of swiftly cleaning the windshield.

The more common tasks performed during these hurried stops include the change of all four racing tires and a fuel tank top-off. How much time is allotted for these tasks? No more than 13 to 15 seconds; any NASCAR pit stop that goes beyond this time frame is considered to be a problem. In extreme cases, an inexpertly conducted pit stop can cost a team the race.

So how does an automotive degree figure into the equation? Considering that the maintenance tasks are not particularly involved, it would make sense that anyone trained in basic car care could serve as a pit stop crew member. Then again, remember that the automotive degree enables the crew member to make split-second decisions – based on professional training – that can turn a good pit stop into a great one. In fact, NASCAR history shows that there are a couple of amazing stops along the way – even if they only took up seconds.

Case in point is Sterling Marlin’s 2002 UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 pit stop. Speeding in the pit lane, although not by choice, should have led to a 15-second penalty. Because of an error on the part of the racing officials, the driver never received the penalty and instead won the race by 1.163 seconds. The quick work of the pit crew, which may have prevented the officials from quickly realizing their errors, undoubtedly factored into this memorable NASCAR pit stop.

In fact, 2002 was the history-making year for the pit stop. At the Sprint All-Star Race XVIII, a final pit stop strategically planned by Jeff Burton’s racing team might not have been enough for Victory Lane, but it led to a change in NASCAR rules. The final pit stop, just 100 yards away from the finish line, propelled Burton into an advantageous position and earned him an extremely short time in the pit. Recognizing the unfair advantage that this stop represented to other drivers, current NASCAR rules now stipulate a target lap for each pit stop.

Article Submitted by Philip J Reed on behalf of Westwood College.